Protecting the brand: Avoiding diversity washing in marketing communications

In recent years, global brands have rolled out numerous DEI-themed campaigns and employee-focused programmes in response to movements that took place when the world was on pause, like Black Lives Matter, Stop Asian Hate and positive activism on behalf of the trans community.

Customers and employees started to demand more from the brands they patron and work for, and high-profile multinationals like Nike and Tommy Hilfiger helped to accelerate a wave of change in corporate practices when they leaned into causes. Companies of all shapes and sizes took to reviewing their recruitment and development processes while setting up advisory boards to demonstrate a commitment to progress. 

It’s now 2024, and the world’s attention has shifted to geo-political and economic events which poses the question – are the DEI initiatives implemented by companies three years ago showing results? Are they following through on their reissued value statements? Do their equality-supporting brand campaigns reflect sentiment among minority and LGBTQ+ employees? Have they taken steps to confirm this? If the answer to any of these is no, they are effectively indulging in diversity washing.

We are accustomed to hearing the term greenwashing (and even ‘green PR’) which has been in use since the mid-80s when hotels were called out for guilting guests into reusing towels as a cost-saving initiative. 

Diversity washing, however, is a new term applicable to companies across all industries that refers to the empty use of inclusive signifiers and descriptors with no authentic connection between the concepts behind them and the day-to-day running of a business. Outside of ethical decision-making, diversity washing can lead to accusations of virtue signalling and even reputational damage – every PR practitioner’s worst nightmare – before ultimately hitting the company’s bottom line. 

Short term gain, long term loss

Having worked in multiple consumer-facing sectors, I understand how easy it can be to develop campaigns that speak to a genuinely held ideal but do little to advance it. Business moves quickly, and before you know it there’s a new announcement or product to launch, but this shouldn’t diminish the operational decision to piggyback a cause. Adopting this type of strategy for short-term commercial gain can lead to long-term loss. 

One small yet impactful example of diversity washing is the creation of marketing assets that use lifestyle photography with multicultural and LGBTQ+ people. It is strategic to promote to these communities, but a campaign built around a visual or an idea that is not substantiated within the business or brand is misleading at best and reflects a lack of corporate integrity at worst. This can also happen through other communications efforts like publishing ideological statements and brand-driven content on owned social and digital media channels. 

In a study published by the European Corporate Governance Institute, researchers measured the extent to which companies have a disconnect between discussing DEI commitment and their actual diversity. The study, which focused on publicly traded corporations in the United States, found those that displayed diversity washing tendencies had “less workplace diversity,” tend to “experience future outflows of diverse employees,” and display “significant discrepancies between their disclosed commitment to DEI and their actual hiring practices.” 

The study also found “a significant decline in diversity just one year after a firm’s DEI disclosure, suggesting an inverse association between the level of DEI commitment and the subsequent changes in employee diversity.” This decline continued in the second and third year following a DEI commitment, pointing to a tendency for “elevated discussions on diversity commitments without enacting meaningful changes in their workforce demographics”. These findings were supported by a separate analysis of the DEI outcome for senior-level employees.

Coordinated efforts

To help mitigate reputational risk and substantiate outreach from marketing and corporate communications teams, companies should develop sustained, coordinated DEI efforts across departments, paying particular attention to mentorship, development, and recruitment at all levels of seniority. Top talent may choose not to join a company based on the observable makeup of the organisation. 

You may be asking yourself how you can affect that type of change across your entire organisation. The answer starts with viewing your role beyond just your day-to-day responsibilities. PR professionals may be hired to conduct media outreach, but we are also guardians of a brand or client’s reputation. As such, we should have a voice in shaping an organisation’s ethical practices in ways that generate positive impact.

PRs should work with executive management and HR teams on the conceptualisation and implementation of attainable DEI initiatives that align with corporate goals, further ESG policy making, and enhance loyalty and competitiveness. 

A great way to foster accountability is to ensure that listening is central to the framework and guidelines created. Setting up discussion panels to listen to the views of colleagues and external partners allows for a deeper understanding of concerns and opportunities when they arise and can provide ideas for action plans. 

Confirmed activities such as training programmes or operational change proposals should include metrics for later evaluation. Companies invested in DEI-adjacent projects or enhancing diversity in their teams should consider working with local and international foundations that support underrepresented communities and minority ethnic graduates. For the most committed companies with hubs in the UK, there is the Blueprint Diversity mark a status awarded to companies that actively engage in the process of diversifying workforces, helping them to attract and retain talent from all walks of life. 

Getting ahead

At the end of the day, PR practitioners represent the actions and decisions of a company - in times of success and in times of crisis - so it is important to have a seat at the table when decisions of an ethical nature need to be made.

Taking into consideration the varying operational structures of different companies, PR practitioners should feel empowered to vocalise concerns around a policy, proposed activation, and even a legal or contractual obligation if it intersects with DEI. This communications-friendly approach enables PRs to get ahead of potential fallout and equips them to defend or promote a company on its record. 

A company’s most valuable asset is its identity. Brands and organisations that create a culture of accountability and follow through on their DEI commitments, both publicly and behind the scenes, are not only doing the right thing, but they are also future proofing their reputation, inspiring loyalty among customers and employees, and expanding opportunities to reach new audiences.

Terri McCollin is a communications executive with more than 15 years’ experience across travel, hotels, and luxury lifestyle sectors.